Infamous 2 Review

By: Bryan Travers

Infamous 2 is the sequel to infamous 1, a game where you took control of Coal MacGrath, a character who experienced a horrible accident, which gave him electrical super powers. You then had to go around and clean up the mess that was left behind, along the way you choose whether you wanted to be a hero or a villain based on your actions. This was the main selling point of the first game, and has been brought over for the sequel. Helping people will give you positive karma and taking advantage of citizens will give you negative karma. This system works decently enough, since it does affect the way you’re viewed and how people react to you on the streets. The problem though is that there is no middle ground, so if you just want to remain neutral your out of luck.

In my opinion, the biggest problem with Infamous 2 is the expectations you bring in from Infamous 1. I say this because the plot was a huge part of the first game and is equally big in the second, only a lot less interesting. That’s not to say the plot is bad in this one, just a lot less intriguing, the biggest examples are the plot twists; in Infamous 1 they came out of nowhere, were unpredictable and I genuinely cared. In infamous 2 however, the plot twists are still surprising but also slightly predictable. Sadly enough the gameplay also falls victims to this flaw. Infamous 2 starts off with an amazing intro level that’s vary flashy and epic, but it’s so good that the rest of the game just can’t keep up with it. You go from something unique like destroying a giant lava man’s face to something generic like blowing up helicopters, not even the ending made me feel as destructive as the beginning. Infamous 2 is a great game, but the expectations you may have can really undermine the experience. Its two main elements; gameplay and storytelling are ruined by its intro and its predecessor to the point that they feel boring by comparison.

Now what saves infamous 2 is how ridiculously destructive and satisfying everything is. Early on you gain electricity rockets, electricity grenades and the equivalent of the force, all of which can be fired out of the palm of your hand, there’s even an electric wrench that builds up power the more you hit people with it. Grinding on cables as sparks fly everywhere is always cool and the enemy types are nicely varied and unique. Despite it not being consistent, the gameplay in infamous 2 is still very much so enjoyable.

It may seem like I’ve nagged on about infamous 2 a fair amount, but to be honest it’s not bad; it’s actually rather good. Yes the game is horribly unbalanced and underwhelming at times, but when Infamous 2 gets it right, it really gets it right. 7.5/10.